Yeah, from what I have read the
Convoy C8 is one of the well-built ones. Now that the XP-L HI version is available, it must be even better. Throw typically goes up by at least 80% when you switch from XP-L HD to XP-L HI. It is also nice that Convoy gives tint options.
On the downside, Convoy has a funky two-group interface. The 5-mode group puts strobe and SOS on the main sequence (Low > Medium > High > Strobe > SOS). The 3-mode group omits them. Both groups blink once after the first five seconds in Low mode. At first, it's kind of irritating, but it's okay after you have learned to anticipate it.
I am not sure whether the Convoy C8 uses "on-time memory" or not. I have read that it does.
On-time memory works by measuring how much time has passed since a given mode was first activated. If the current mode has been on for only a short period (typically less than 2 or 3 seconds), when you press the tail switch halfway down (and then release it) to change modes, the flashlight will switch to the next mode. If the current mode has been on for longer than 2 or 3 seconds, then the flashlight does not change modes when you press the tail switch.
In practice, this means that
the first half-press does not change the mode! All that happens is the flashlight blinks off and back on
in the same mode you started with. The second, and subsequent, half-presses cycle through the modes.
This seems strange until you consider that a half-press on the tail switch is no different than turning the flashlight off for a year, and then turning it back on. Both cycle the power off and on.
With on-time memory, a flashlight is not able to measure how long a flashlight has been off. It only knows how long it has been since it was last powered on. In this regard, it cannot tell the difference between a half-press and turning the light on after a year of non-use.
Mode memory would not work right if a flashlight changed modes every time it transitioned from off to on. After a flashlight has been off for a while, you don't want it to change modes when you turn it back on.
Nevertheless, on-time memory is a bummer. "Off-time memory" is better. That scheme measures how long it has been since a flashlight was turned off, rather than how long it has been since it was turned on.
I have the newly updated
ThorFire C8s. Like the Convoy, it is very well-built. It uses a Cree XM-L2 emitter, however, so throw is not a good as the Convoy.
The place where the new ThorFire model excels is user interface. It has a true Moonlight mode, in addition to Low, Medium, and High. Strobe mode is hidden; it is not part of the main sequence. There are no extra blinks in Low mode, either.
The ThorFire uses off-time memory, so it changes modes every time you give a half-press, including the first. It also has mode memory, so it powers up in whatever mode you were using when the flashlight was last turned off.
ThorFire has a sales presence on Amazon, so you do not have to purchase from China.
On the downside, you do not get a choice of tints with the ThorFire C8s. Cool white is the only choice.
ReManG posted this excellent
review of the ThorFire C8s.
The
XinTD C8 is another C8 I have read good things about. It is supposed to be super tough, and I think it has an option for a Cree XP-G2 emitter. If true, it should out-throw the XM-L2 used in the ThorFire, but throw less than than the XP-L HI used by the Convoy.
Hope this helps.
